Saturday, March 19, 2011

In his element: The flamingo strolls along in the pool before dipping his head under the water and taking a tumble

They make standing on one leg look easy. Usually.

This flamingo, however, seems to lack the balance and poise of the rest of his species.

As he strolled through a shallow pool in his enclosure, he slipped his head under the water to have a drink.

Oh the shame: The pink bird had dipped his head into the water to cool off before tripping over

But as he tucked one leg up under his body, he lost his footing and plunged in, head over feet.

Any chance of recovering his dignity was then lost as the confused bird’s legs flailed wildly in all directions as he desperately tried to get back up, flipping over several times and almost sinking.

When he eventually managed to regain his composure, he tried to brush off the incident at Moscow zoo by casually swimming away as if nothing had happened.

Stylish: The flamingo ends up with his legs pointing in the air after losing his balance while wading at Moscow Zoo

Unfortunately for him, the whole episode was caught on camera by wildlife photographer Tatiana Adamenko.

She said: ‘They are usually very graceful birds but this one was panicking and creating a lot of noise. He was very joyful one minute and the next he was turning somersaults in water trying to get back on his feet. Luckily the water was not deep.’

Nobody saw that did they? The bird eventually regained his composure before swimming serenely away

Ms Adamenko, from Podolsk, near Moscow, has been taking pictures of wildlife for three years after qualifying as a vet.

She added: 'Flamingos are very unusual birds. They are distinctive not only with their beauty but also their unusual behaviour - that's why I love watching them.

'I know that Kazakh people believe that the first person to see a flamingo in spring will be happy. So I'm hoping to be the first this spring.'

Flamingos often stand on one leg, but the reason for this behaviour is unknown.